1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toilets (sometimes referred to as "water closets"). More particularly, the present invention relates to toilets having a tank for providing flush water. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a toilet having a tank for providing flush water, the toilet having two flush modalities: a conventional flush operation for solid waste and a separate urinal flush operation for only liquid waste.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Toilets serve admirably as an efficient and sanitary means to dispose of waste material. Toilets operate upon a flush cycle, wherein waste disposal is performed with the accompaniment of a large quantity of water, usually on the order of three, four or more gallons.
As population densities have increased, the demands upon available water supplies have become quite substantial. Indeed, periodically, certain locales are subject to water rationing, wherein flushing of the toilet is requested to be performed only infrequently. Such a request not only subjects the toilet user to odor, but potentially also to disease due to the stagnancy of pre-used bowl water. Accordingly, a solution to the water demands of toilet flushing with each toilet use would be extremely desirable for both personal and ecological reasons.
One "popular" notion to reduce the amount of flush water needed is to place an object in the tank, such as a water filled plastic milk container, the volume of which diminishing the water volume in the tank. While this sounds not only feasible but practical, one must consider why, in the first place, the toilet manufacturer designed the tank to hold a specified amount of flush water. First, there must be enough flush water to move solid waste in the bowl out of the toilet and into the sanitary drain. Second, there must be still more flush water to flush out the dirty bowl water while at the same time rinsing the bowl clean. Thirdly, there must be enough flush water left over to provide an adequate depth of water at the trap located at the bottom portion of the bowl so that the sanitary drain is fluidically cut-off from the bowl to thereby prevent methane and other sewer gases from backing-up into the bowl, and, thereupon, into the restroom. Thus, reducing the amount of flush water by simply reducing the water stored in the tank may result in insufficient water to properly flush the bowl. More potentially disastrous, is that over time an accumulation of solid waste may become lodged in the sanitary drain, plugging the drain and resulting in back-ups because repeatedly too little flush water was available to move the solid waste out the local sanitary drain and into the main sanitary drain.
Some toilets operate on a flush process wherein less flush water is required, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,616 to Ament, dated Jan. 29, 1991. Other toilets combine a lesser amount of flush water in combination with a compressed gas principle. Problematically, these toilets may be subject to drain clogging if insufficient flush water is available to move the flushed solid waste out into the main sanitary drain.
The flushing of liquid waste requires less flush water than does the flushing of solid waste, since the flushing of liquid waste does not entail the potential for drain clogging. Accordingly, what is needed is a toilet which uses only an amount of water which is needed to effect full and complete flushing based upon the particular type of waste being flushed.